CEO Took Her Mute Daughter to the Playground, Froze When a Single Dad Made Her Speak First Time…

I started volunteering at parks, helping kids. I don’t know, it makes me feel safe again. I guess it’s selfish.
 
It helps me too. Olivia glanced at Emily, who was giggling as Mason made a whipped cream mustache. That’s not selfish, she said softly.
 
That’s extraordinary. Jack looked at her then, something raw and unguarded in his eyes. Most people don’t think so.
 
My resume is just full of blank years and medical notes. Nobody wants to hire the guy with the limp. Olivia hesitated.
 
She wasn’t just any mother. She was a wealthy mother. She was the CEO of a healthcare tech firm, a powerful one.
 
But she never mixed her personal life with her work, especially when it came to Emily. Still, she found herself saying, maybe they’re not the right people. I could… She stopped, realizing how it might sound.
 
Jack shook his head slightly. You don’t owe me anything. You’ve got your own life, your own world.
 
He smiled faintly. And from the looks of it, a daughter who’s about to talk your ear off. Emily turned then, cheeks flushed, and tugged on Olivia’s sleeve.
 
Can Mason come to the park with us tomorrow? Olivia blinked, stunned again at the casual way her daughter now spoke. Jack chuckled. We’ll see, kiddo.
 
But Olivia’s mind was already working, because something told her that if she didn’t keep Jack in their lives, she’d regret it for the rest of her days. The next morning, Olivia woke to the sound of something she hadn’t heard in years. Emily humming in her room.
 
Not a full song, just a soft, content little tune. It hit Olivia so hard she had to sit on the edge of her bed for a moment, just breathing it in. By mid-morning, they were back at the playground.
 
Jack and Mason were already there, tossing a worn football back and forth. Emily didn’t hesitate. She ran to them, calling out, Mason, throw it to me.
 
Olivia just stood there, her heart swelling with every shouted word. Three years of silence, gone like fog in sunlight. She walked over to Jack, who was leaning on the fence, watching the kids.